Well it's been quite the year to remember - and we're not talkin' about COVID! (Of course we realize it's been a trying year for everyone). However, one of the things we have been able to do throughout this pandemic, is to get outside.
The 2020 trail building efforts began in White Hills with some spring cleanup and maintenance on OGXC to control water and mitigate erosion.
From there, we focused on finishing our first of two completely new trails for 2020 - "Fox Hole":
Working through the Spring and early part of the Summer, our first new trail for the year was completed and we moved on to to our next project: a trail from the top of White Hills, traversing the hillside and finishing in Quidi Vidi - "U-190":
Construction of this trail involved moving and placement of a large quantity of rock along a steep incline. Volunteers rose to the challenge, showing up every week and working through rain and wind and as the summer dragged on, the darkness:
With the completion of U-190, two entirely new trails (approx. 1.6 km) had been constructed, in under six months, solely by volunteers. Both new trails were included in the race course for Round 2 of the St. John's Enduro Series in September.
Building (ha-ha) on a successful summer, we constructed a new collector trail at the exit from Oceanside to reduce user conflict and increase the level of safety for all trail users on the high-traffic area next to the East Coast Trail. Stayed tuned for more safety improvements coming in 2021.
Most of this trail work was completed in the dark using lights, perhaps some of the best shaping that we've completed. Maybe we should always work in the dark ;)
With the onset of Fall, we moved to our final projects for the year. First, we performed some rerouting and water / erosion control on the climb trail to U-190 ("Satan's Witch"). The work completed buffs out some of the technical climb features of the trail, which allows more users to enjoy the climb and means you will have more energy left at the top. More energy = more laps! Rerouting and surfacing of the climb also mitigates accelerated erosion and prepares the trail to handle the increase in trail users that the trails have been subject to each year.
Finally, we began work on a third completely new trail for the year - yet to be named. This trail connects the mid-section of U-190 to the Oceanside climb. For any of you who don't love Foundation Climb - you will be able to skip that in 2021! This trail is 85% complete and will be our first project in the Spring after cleanup from the upcoming Winter months.
Again, a massive thank you to all of our volunteers. Without you, these trails simply don't exist for us to enjoy. We would also like to thank some of our community partners who donated funds to AMBA in 2020; these funds directly facilitated the development you see above:
If you would like to support future development, please contact us at info@ambanl.ca. We will be posting some new and easy ways to donate to AMBA early in the New Year.
We have a lot planned for 2021 and beyond. We are making progress with our various stakeholders and hopeful to build upon our existing infrastructure in White Hills and move further ahead to realizing it's full potential - as a premiere Mountain Bike destination on the East Coast of Canada.
Happy Holidays! See ya in 2021!
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